The launch of the vaccine is a mess, and President Biden owns it now.
I say that not because I think that all the problems in the country can be attributed to a guy who has barely been president for a week. The Biden team says the Trump administration has left supplies much lower than expected, and each new Oval Office occupant blames his predecessor for leaving him in a disaster.
But it is the press that is now openly challenging Biden to do a better job of putting these potentially saving pictures in the arms of more Americans. And judging by Jen Psaki’s daily briefings, Biden is also being pressured on issues ranging from China to Russian demonstrations to violence in Portland. Except for the lost questions about impeachment, the name Trump is coming up much less often.
It is not Biden’s fault that many state programs are a confusing patchwork that can barely be accessed online because the sites are overwhelmed by demand. He is taking steps to try to increase production of coronavirus vaccines and key products like syringes – although the White House has not been able to say how many doses are in stock.
But as the president continued to proclaim his goal of 100 million kicks in his first 100 days, the media was not buying it. That was the question that prompted Biden to pop “give me a break” to an AP reporter who asked about it last week.
Now Biden has changed his tone.
“I think we can reach 1.5 million a day, instead of 1 million a day,” he told a Bloomberg reporter at a news conference. “But we have to meet that goal of one million a day.”
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Everyone knows why Biden set the goal of 100 million. It is because he thought he could easily reach or exceed it. In politics, you are hammered for failing to reach a benchmark you had announced. But as the program devised by the Trump team was already on pace or almost on its way to reaching 100 million doses, the press denounced the fact that this was not an ambitious goal. (Keep in mind that the two-dose regimen would only immunize 50 million people.)
Asked in the press when any American who wants a vaccine could get it, Biden said on Monday that “I think we will be able to do this this spring”, although that is “a logistical challenge that goes beyond anything we have tried in this country. “For the record, health experts like Anthony Fauci are saying this won’t happen until at least spring or fall, and Psaki came back yesterday.
Biden was breaking up when he decided to recognize Fox’s Peter Doocy, saying “I know he always asks me tough questions and always has an advantage for them, but I still like him.”
Doocy asked the president to justify saying “there is nothing we can do to change the path of the pandemic in the coming months”, when two months ago he declared “I will end the virus”.
The answer: “I never said I would do that in two months. I said it took a long time to get here; it will take a long time to beat it.”
These questions are fueled by growing frustration across the country, as even those in priority groups fail to get vaccine appointments or are having their appointments canceled.
But in a broader sense, it reflects the shocking transition from candidate to chief commander.
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Suddenly, it’s Biden, not the guy from Mar-a-Lago, responsible for all the problems around the world. Will the START treaty be extended? Will troop levels abroad be increased? Will Harriet Tubman be on the $ 20 account? (In the latter, Biden plans to speed up the process.)
No one would suggest that Biden and his main spokesperson are being questioned by the press the way Trump and his press secretaries were. This is partly because Psaki adopts a conciliatory tone, partly because Biden is not under impeachment or investigation, and partly because of a visceral dislike that so many journalists had for Trump.
But even with greater civility,
, which is his job, and he is being forced to adjust.